Kade (NSC Industries) (19 page)

She shook her head but reopened her eyes and stared straight
into my soul. “You mean too much to do this, Kade. I won’t let us do this.”

I could see the commotion and mayhem that was consuming
her composure tearing her in two and driving her mind crazy with disorder. Her
exhaustion was tangibly bleeding her dry as her body sagged and her eyes dimmed
lifelessly. “Let me help you, Grace. Let me take it away, just for a while at
the very least.”

She knew what I was saying. She knew I could do that for
her but I didn’t expect the tear that rolled down her cheek to be formed as a
result of her relief.

“Please…” It was a choked whisper, a desperate plea and I
gave her a single nod as I slid my arms under her and lifted her against my
body.

She peered down at Marcus anxiously, her worry adding to
her unrest and I took her chin and titled her face to mine. “He’ll be fine for
a while. Let him sleep.”

She nodded then locked my eyes with an almost
heart-breaking gaze. The imploration held there was crippling, “Make me forget,
Kade. Set me free before…”

“Ssshhh,” I whispered as I pressed my lips to her
forehead. My heart was held in a tight fist as I fought to hold back the tears
that wanted to flow with her desperation and her fear. “I promise, sweetheart,
I promise to eliminate it all.”

She nodded feverishly as she let her eyes flick across my
face and when they dropped to my mouth I couldn’t hold back any longer. I bowed
my head and pressed my lips to hers. She moaned softly, causing my gut to flare
and my blood to surge to my cock. Her soft whimpers as I kissed her were making
me crave her like never before. My whole body shuddered with hunger when she
slipped her tongue delicately into my mouth and brushed it against my own,
causing me to echo one of her groans.

Her lips were soft and pliant as she pressed against me harder,
her own desire now controlling her as she took my kiss and made it her own.

“Kade,” she breathed into my mouth. “I need you.”

“I know and you have no idea how much I want you. How
much I want to sink deep inside you, bury you under me and drive you out of
your mind with pleasure. But first I need to take you to a place that is solely
for you.”

“I need that, Kade, I need it so much.”

I smiled at her tenderly as I carried her across the upper
hallway and into a bedroom I presumed had been readied for her during her stay.

“I’ll be right back.” I told her as I laid her gently on
the bed.

She nodded but as I turned she grabbed my wrist and
halted me, “I… it can’t be any more than what it is Kade. Do you understand?”

I sighed but nodded, “I know.”

She returned my nod and my sad gaze but then she smiled;
a pure exposed smile that exhibited both her radiance and her vulnerability and
fuck if I hadn’t fallen before, I did right then.

I blinked hard, desperately trying to seize the words and
lock them down before they spewed from me and ruined this time I needed to give
to her.

I smiled back, a slightly unsteady grin which made her
smile widen further. “I…wait…”

It was all I could manage before I darted through the
door and closed it quickly behind me, blocking off the risk to ruin everything.
I leant back against it and exhaled the breath I had been holding onto so it
couldn’t betray me and release the damning words with it.

Fuck!

I was in deep shit. She wouldn’t allow this and she would
do everything in her power to stop it, including cutting me off completely but
I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this time it would finish me. Once and
for all.  

This time, this woman would break me so completely that there
would be no return from it.

She could promise me so much but she offered nothing. She
only offered me this moment and I hoped to God, it wouldn’t be our last.

Kade returned quickly but I was already naked and knelt
on the floor waiting for him. I heard his breath stutter from behind me as he
found me arranged and prepared for his manipulation.

He was silent for a long while but I sensed… no, I knew
that I was required to be silent and still. I jolted slightly when I felt his
hand settle on my head then softly stroke down the back of my hair, his fingers
collecting the long strands as his hand ventured to the ends. He pulled it into
a bunch then secured it with a tie of some sorts and brought it round to rest
on my collarbone.

“Remember you are my puppet, my playground Grace, but you
are also the most cherished thing in this room. Between you and me, you are the
one that makes this technique and art what it is and what it will be. You are a
canvas to my craft, a backdrop to the sculpture I construct and eventually you
will be the brilliance in my creation.”

His words, spoken with a soft timbre were already calming
and soothing me and I lifted my eyes to him as he came around the front of me.
He gazed, his head slightly tilted and his eyes soft and easy but his lips were
curved into a delicious smile, one that made me want to reach out and touch
with my fingers just so I could feel it as well as see it.

“Are you ready?” He asked eventually and I nodded.

“But…”

He frowned at me when I paused and nodded in
encouragement, “Go on.”

“Well, do we need a… safeword?”

His smile grew into a grin and his eyes lightened, making
the blue of them appear sapphire and stunning. “This isn’t Fifty Shades of
Grey, Grace. It isn’t a form of BDSM or even a Dom and sub relationship. It’s
just me and you. It’s me giving you the release you crave whilst I do something
I like doing and it’s you giving me something you could never put a price on.”

I smiled back at him and he dropped to his haunches
before me as he brought his forefinger to my mouth and tickled it across my
lips, his eyes locked on his action as if mesmerised by the simple movement.
“If there is anything you don’t like, then tell me and I’ll stop immediately.”

I nodded in acknowledgment and he lifted his eyes to
mine. “The way I bind and knot, it is just a matter of a simple pull and the
rope will be freed quickly. You’re still quite sore, so I’m limited to which
arrangements I can create but I’ll make sure you are comfortable and relaxed.”

“Okay.”

He smiled but his face grew serious as he trailed his
finger over my jaw and then down the centre of my throat. He watched his own
expedition with a keen interest and I sucked in a desperate lungful of air when
he stroked across the rise of my breast. “Seeing you, like this when I walked
in, already offering yourself to me,” He spread his fingers and gently opened his
hand across my flesh, my hard nipple pressing against him as I arched my back
and took the pleasure he was offering. “You have no idea how pleased you made
me.”

I closed my eyes as he cupped my other breast and lightly
caressed them both, his fingers expertly massaging me with the right amount of
pressure and gentleness as his thumbs flicked across my nipples.

“I want to please you.” I was shocked by the sultry
quality to my voice and I felt the blush creep up my neck and flame my cheeks.

“Don’t be ashamed to want to please me, Grace. It thrills
me.”

He leant and gave me a chaste kiss before moving back
behind me. “Put your hands behind your back and take the opposite elbow in each
hand.”

It took me a moment to figure out what he meant but he
gently manoeuvred me until he had me in the position he wanted me in.

Then he began.

The rhythm in which he worked, the soft sound of the rope
whispering as he crafted in the silence, and the regularity of his breathing
enveloped me and drew me into the serenity that I had relished in the last time
he had bound me.

This time he worked slower but for a longer period and I
could almost feel the pattern he was creating pressing against my flesh. The
rope was softer this time and more delicate against my skin but as it wrapped
my body it was as though it swallowed all the anguish and anarchy my mind was
struggling with.

Each separate pattern he created concentrated on a
different area of my soul and soothed it as it pulled the pain out and replaced
it with a calmness that was both giving but consuming. Each individual area he
worked on became the focus for my mind and all I could concentrate on was the
brush and stroke of his ties.

It was completely captivating and all other thoughts were
pushed aside as the inner peace his art demanded took over my entire reason for
taking one more breath. My mind shut down as my lungs involuntary took control
of my life whilst the rest of my body let go and paused for a moment. That’s
the only way I could describe the sensation, like my existence in this world
slept for a while and revitalized not only my body but my soul and my mind.

I hadn’t realised he had finished until I felt him move
across the room and stand before me. I was too relaxed to even open my eyes but
I sensed him watching me.

“Grace.”

I titled my chin upwards but my eyes remained closed and
heavy.

“I can’t leave you too long I’m afraid. Your body isn’t
used to this yet and the draw on your muscles will cause you to stiffen until
your body is trained to it.”

“Mmmm.” I couldn’t even form words and I didn’t even
flinch when I felt his palm stroke across my cheek.

“I’m going to leave you alone for ten minutes, just to
give you that moment to be with yourself but whilst I’m gone I want you to do
something for me.”

“Mmmm.”

“I want you to find your soul from deep within you and I
want you to make your peace with it.”

I didn’t answer him, I couldn’t but he knew I had heard
him.

“And while you are like this, beautiful and serene, I
want you to know…” I felt his lips press to my forehead and he held them there
for a while, both of us just breathing and
being
.

“I’m in love you, Grace.”

I dragged my eyes open to look at him but his words had
the total opposite effect he was expecting. I could see his worry, his
anxiousness and his soul.

I opened my mouth, trying to force the words from my
mouth in my tranquil state. “Yes.”

He smiled faintly as he pulled away from me and stood up
but as he turned to leave me I managed to structure my own gift to him, “And I
love you.”

His feet stuttered to a stop and he spun slowly round. I
watched as a single tear leaked from the corner of his eye and rolled down his
face as his chest seemed to stop in its rhythm. He gazed at me, his eyes
expressing all the things he couldn’t actually manage to say but he suddenly
drew in a severe breath and swallowed harshly.

“I…” he rolled his lips behind his teeth and closed his
eyes for a moment.

“I love you Kade.” I repeated, now more focused on him
that my brain had received the instruction from my heart that I needed to
repeat it and make him aware of my sincerity.

He moved back towards me and dropped to his knees in
front of me. He didn’t speak, he just placed his palms either side of my face
and pulled me to him, his mouth descending quite forcefully on mine as he
projected his declaration into an act. His kiss was passionate but so full of
tenderness that I suddenly found I couldn’t breathe and pulled back to gasp for
air.

“I’m scared, Kade.”

“Hey, no. Don’t fear this, Grace. Take it for what it is
and enjoy it.”

“But… there is something you need to know.” I swallowed
back the fear that was choking my happiness at Kade’s revelation and wished my
hands were free so I could touch him.

“I know Grace but you need to know, I won’t let it
happen. You were made to be my lover. You were created for the purpose of giving
me a reason to live and I was created for this, to love you and to protect you.
I know it, I feel it and I can tell you, no I can guarantee that things will
happen to stop the course of this.”

“You don’t understand. It won’t go away Kade. These…
people, they don’t stop until their commission is paid in full and it isn’t
paid in full until the contract is signed and the target is removed.”

“No, I’m not willing to accept that. The person who
started this can end it. We need to find whoever it is and make them change
their mind.”

I laughed bitterly and his brow creased. “He won’t change
his mind Kade. There is nothing that will change his mind.”

“But why?” He was growing angry with me but he didn’t
understand it wasn’t me quitting, it was me accepting things.

“Because he hates me but more than that, he hates what he
has become because of all this.”

“Grace, you’re not making sense. Who did you piss off
this much?”

I cocked my head and looked at him sadly. He would never
accept my death and I now regretted telling him how I felt about him. “It isn’t
because I pissed someone off; it’s because of what I am.”

“An agent?” he ventured as he tried to comprehend the
whole reason for this but I shook my head.

“No Kade, a daughter.”

He blinked at me in confusion, “What the hell are you
saying. I don’t understand you or this.”

“The person who took the contract out is Will, Kade. My
brother took out the hit on me.”

I stared in shock. I’m not even sure if I saw her as my
vision blurred and my stomach knotted considerably. “What?”

She didn’t speak for a while as she held me in her locked
gaze but I was more than aware of her torment. “Can we do this another time?”
she asked with sadness but I shook my head and continued to gape at her.

“Not really, no.”

“Kade please,” she wiggled her shoulders to remind me
that she was bound but I shrugged.